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Topic: Project: Pandora (Read 10368 times)

Where do I begin with this car, Its really hard to know where to start to be completely honest. I remember reading for hours and hours, about this new car Audi was releasing, the successor to the Original B5 RS4, and the even more world renowned RS2 which was built with some Porsche engineering, these are the cars that really put Audi on the map in terms of the Race cars for the road. My next fondest memory has to be the 2005/06 "Top Gear" Series 7, Episode 2, Where Clarkson competed against the climber Leo Houlding to see who could make it to the top of the Verdon Gorge in France. Fast Forward the video to 25:40Top Gear 2006 RS4 reviewThat was it.. that review, the way that Clarkson squeals like a little girl when he's saying "four hundred and fourteen break horse power... 414!!! that's a hundred more then you got from the old beemer.... a hundred!!" another great quote from that episode was " I've got a sneaking suspicion, that I'm sitting about four feet, from one of the greatest engines.... ever made." This was the car for me, i just knew it from the moment i started reading about it, the way it portrayed G.W. Bush by walking around with his hands out to his sides and hands backwards......lol, the way the engine growled, the way it revv'ed out to an astonishing 8250rpm... from a V8, the fenders, the wheels, everything about it screamed luxury and power! And this is where my problems lied, in 2005 when the car was first coming out in europe and making the first appearances I was 17, in 2006/07 when the car was actually available for sale in Canada I was only 18 turning 19, and when the the car above sold at the dealership, full load price was over 100k(a far cry from the 60-70k you could pay in the states) alittle out of my range, and would be for a while! I spent the next few years reading, dreaming, i kept myself busy at the time with the MKV GTI project, but this was always in the back of my head, everyone has that one car that does that to them. This was mine: B7 RS4 Sprint Blue Avant, Carbon accents, with all the Euro goodies steering wheel, seats, etc...

Early 2012 was the year I was finally able to make legitimate attempts to purchase my dream car, I made 3 attempts to purchase an RS, One Misano Red, One Suzuka Grey and for unseen reasons out my control, mostly distance, transport costs and importation fees especially for the SG car as it was in New York, the first two deals fell through. The third was a Black car from Calgary, it was only summer driven, had KW V3's, GMG exhaust, Dynamax carbon fiber wheels, a recent carbon clean, 5k oil changes, and only had 61,xxx km's, the wheels weren't my style, but the price and km's where a good match, I had my cash in hand, emailed the Seller and we hashed out the final price, I told him that I would send him $500 as a deposit, a photo of my plane ticket, if I didn't show he could keep the $500, he said he needed a $5g deposit, i took this as a sign left the deal, and reported the ad, I later found the exact add in the Audizine Archives, exact car and everything. my hunch of it being a scam was correct.

I was pretty bummed out and gave up hope at that point, I started looking at getting a newer S4 at this point, but a couple of test drives confirmed it just lacked something for me. One monday after work I decided out of the blue search craigslist for RS4's, 3 ad's out of the 15 or so a4's with RS badges and or "special edition" s4's. first 2 were way over priced for the km's, the third was just a written ad, no pictures or anything, I wish i would have copied that ad, but was very very brief and to the point, listed the KM's a phone number, email, and price. I decided that it was only located in North Van I would take a chance and take a look. Met the owner that Thursday, had the car checked that weekend while the owner was away on a business vacation, everything was A ok, besides obvious wear and tear, brakes, upper control arms, etc.... the following week he was still away on business, so i spent this time going through my phone for drooling over pictures........ finding myself feeling as i did when the car was released in 06/07, that giddy little 18yr old boy, I really couldnt contain myself at this point, i believe i told a few people at this point that i was legitimately close to buying my dream car..... which in retrospec made it even harder, because then they got excited for me........ LONGEST WEEK OF MY LIFE!!! finally Monday rolled around and the owner was back in town and we met again to discuss final details, I was ready at this point to buy the car, everything checked out, Canadian spec car(1of100) I'm the 3rd owner with the 1st and 2nd being close family friends, Sprint Blue with carbon accents, no accidents, records of everything done to the car, had all recalls performed, it was literally the perfect car! seriously the only way this car could have been better was if i could have gotten an avant, although as our discussion began everything change quite dramatically, this is when i found out that he wanted to trade the vehicle in............(immediately in my head I started thinking ok how can i get this car? whats the dealerships name? how much did he want again? how much should i offer the dealer? crap they are gonna jack the price through the roof) my heart sunk....... he continued on that he had to many cars, and his wife could use a new one, what with the HST, it made more sense to trade it in and save the money................ I was dumbfounded a week of dreaming of my dream car and then this......I think he noticed the look of disappointed on my face and quickly added to the story that he was close friends with the dealership they wanted to get the new car from, and that the price agreed upon would be the sale price, not only that but he was willing to drop the price to make up for the inconvenience...... well alittle poop came out, and Needless to say the papers were signed by the end of the week.

spring unsprung 2012 was her first adventure into the public you could say, at this point the ideas had very much of keeping the car stock or as close to stock as possible with a few OEM+ upgrades, of course that changed quickly, over the past year and a bit of ownership I've kind of come to the idea of how I want this car to break down, I don't ever plan on selling this car, a car like this is something that I can very well pass down to my son, or another family member, and I'm keeping that in mind when it does come down to my purchases, no expenses will be spared, but that doesn't mean I will be throwing money at the car all willy nilly, Some upgrades will cost more then others thats just known, but just because you pay more doesn't mean its the best, every purchase I'm going to make or plan on making ill break down and share with you, I'll be looking for longevity and compatibility between parts, with sharing this with you I hope in return to get some information and other points of view, a new set of eyes on a problem, always makes diagnosing the problem easier, also adding a new point of view on things can be a big help!

Introducing Project: PandoraCurrent:Nov,12,2012June,19,2013

Ill keep this updated with a current update photo.

Im going to reserve the first 4 posts, Motor and Drivetrain, Suspension, Interior, Exterior - All updates will be posted in these area's, be it new thoughts, issues or new parts, I have a Canon T3i which is just gathering dust, one of my new years resolution is to actually use it, so I'm going to be trying a 365 project, which i know will probably be alittle to much for me to keep up with, so I will do as best i can, but I'm hoping to have weekly updates from the garage.

I hope you enjoy following along, I do have some fairly big plans ahead, new interior is arriving any day, motor should be getting even more goodies next winter, I do ask for one thing, I welcome all comments whether they be bad or good, criticism is always a good thing, but please keep the comments respectable and on course!

Cheers Oscar

« Last Edit: Dec 27, 13, 17:36 by Oscar »

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

This Motor stock is stout, if anyone has had the pleasure of driving a RS4, or even been for a ride you realize just how much fun it is, the car loves to rev! I call it my big ass Honda, seriously it just wants to get beaten on any chance you can, and from my experience so far she takes it quite well!

Completely forgot to grab photos of the exhaust install, but i do need to through the car back on a lift soon to adjust one of the tailpipes ever so slightly, i will grab some photos at that time!

Install was amazing! exhaust fit like a glove, even Jeff@PG was blown away by the fitment, the sound is.... well astonishing...... It really is hard to describe, one thing i find weird is the fact it is extremely quite inside the cabin, don't get me wrong there is alittle drone around 18-2000 rpm, nothing that i find annoying, but I gave a friend a ride after he followed the car, and he commented after going for a drive, that outside the car is crazy loud, sounds like a racekor, downshifts are almost Porsche Carrera GT'ish, but inside while driving around with the windows up or down, even under full throttle, talking with your passenger is not going to require me to raise my voice to have a conversation. which is two big thumbs up!

« Last Edit: Jan 14, 14, 18:51 by Oscar »

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

Well as everyone may know being in North America SUCKS! we get shafted on almost everything, none of the cool cars and same goes for parts available for every make and generation. Of course with this car, along with all my cars i slowly start changing things out for European pieces.

Old Photo's in the Previous owners car;

Installed; ( cellphone pictures )

Out of everything that I listed, the front two seats are the only things we cant get over here in NA, mostly because these do not come with Airbags, Only other differences between NA and European cars where the Sport steering wheel, Center console with Push to start, and rear door cards that had roll-up windows.

Interior

OEM - RS4 Sport Bucket Seats - Rewrapped in Sateen Harvest Installed

OEM - Rear RS4 Bench - Rewrapped in Sateen Harvest Installed

OEM - RS4 Doorcards - Rewrapped in Sateen Harvest Installed

OEM - Center console cover - Rewrapped in Sateen Harvest Installed

Gear lever cover - Rewrapped in Sateen Harvest Installed

Headliner - Wrapped in Alcantara Need To Wrap

A,B, And C pilars - Wrapped in Alcantara Need to Wrap

Upper Door cards - Wrapped in Alcantara Need To Wrap

Upper Dash - Wrapped in Alcantara Need To Wrap

Lower Dash - Wrapped in Sateen Harvest Need To Wrap

Euro Steering wheel - Rewrapped in Matching Leather or Alcantara Need To Order

Euro Center Console - Wrapped in Matching Leather Need To Order

Re-Wind stock Seatbelts in a Sprint Blue, instead of OEM Black Need To Order

My car is more then likely 0433627. From the list above, if I change the values from 0xx3xx7, to 0xx1xx2. This would tell the car it's now looking for Euro spec, and to not use the airbag signal from the pressure switch, rather get the input from the belt buckle. Also by putting the car into RoW, rather then North America/Canada, that would technically get rid of rear ignitor light?

« Last Edit: Jan 14, 14, 18:49 by Oscar »

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

Initial landing date for the seats was Dec 20th, that got pushed back to the 27th, and just got off the phone with the shipping company they have been push back again to the 30........ Ughhhhhh Killin me, after they land, I still need to have customs clear the pallet, and pay my duties.

Question for any border guru's out there, technically when Importing these seats they would be falling under "used auto parts" correct? Which means I'm only looking at paying duties (6%)and not customs? Last I chatted with the CBSA seems as they are trying to charge me both duties and customs? It's looking I'll have to pay the full amount, and then file a claim. Which is just pita.

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

Question for any border guru's out there, technically when Importing these seats they would be falling under "used auto parts" correct? Which means I'm only looking at paying duties (6%)and not customs? Last I chatted with the CBSA seems as they are trying to charge me both duties and customs? It's looking I'll have to pay the full amount, and then file a claim. Which is just pita.

Because you are personally clearing these items you will be charged any duties along with GST and most likely PST. The taxes are assessed on the value plus duties. Unless you are using a broker those should be the only fees associated with importing the seats. Typically the duties are roughly 6-7% depending on the tariff code.

Got confirmation they landed at the warehouse this evening at around 830-9, I have already setup a meeting with a CBSA officer tomorrow morning at 9am, hopefully by 5pm tomorrow they will clear customs, Otherwise I have to wait till the new year to pick them up....... Don't think I'll be getting to much sleep tonight lol

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

Not to sure? I called the border services line, took forever to actually get someone, managed to find out that a CBSA officer would be on site around 9am at the downtown location (333 dunsmuir) which is also the BC hydro building, and he cleared everything from there.

Also anything out of the UK is 6.5% duties if anyone is interested

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

Looks great Todd! Did you get the color matched door panels as well? Also, is the wiring hooked up to allow the power bolsters to move with the S button?

I have colour matched door cards, although they are missing some features, the handles are slightly different. Also my rear door cards have privacy screens where as the new ones don't. just need to finishing swapping a few things over still.Unfortunately not, I have a few different coding things I need to try, but I'm not sure if anyone has been able to figure that out yet? I could be wrong?

Btw Derek, the catless exhaust is heavenly..... Seriously amazing piece of work! And I thought the raw fuel smell would be over powering, but really not bad at all, once I hit rush hour today I will know more that's for sure! Also I feel that it would be very raspy without resonators, as it is now I've had a couple friends tell me it sounds like a racecar, a couple downshifts downtown last night seriously blew me away...... It sounds soOoooooooo good!

« Last Edit: Jan 10, 14, 17:57 by Oscar »

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

This thing is looking incredible, spotted ya yesterday eastbound on 108th. I was actually talking about your interior with a friend and then he pointed at your car it was awesome! All this exhaust talk warrants a little soundclip, maybe a launch will do?

Thanks man! Been at PG last couple days trying to do some coding. Unfortunately I don't have any good recording equipment, and recording on my phone or even my dslr, isn't going to do it justice, I need to get in contact with the Box1 guys and see if we can set up a shoot, although probably won't be for a while, going to wait for some nicer weather. I have to pull the seats again, In my excitement of getting the interior in I forgot to swap the NA buckles, so I'm having some codes popping up.

Another issue is with swapping the rear bench out I had to change over the center buckle and latch. So that's Pretty much solves 3 of the 4 issues, with just having to swap the NA buckles over. The other fault is for a pressure plates/switch, after some research, and talking with Luke@plushautomotive, I've found that the bucket seats never came with pressure plates/switch and that the car is actually coded differently in Europe to take the airbag sensor from the belt input, rather then having weight on the seat.

Please keep in mind my car is an RS, so coding is slightly different to regular car, so please if you use this as a reference, do your own checks of the coding numbers! I am not responsible if you mess anything up!

I still need to pull the codes from my car, as I just found this info last night, but coding on my car is more then likely 0433627. From the list above, if I change the values from 0xx3xx7, to 0xx1xx2. This would tell the car it's now looking for eurospec, and to not use the airbag signal from the pressure switch, rather get the input from the belt buckle. Also by putting the car into RoW, rather then North America/Canada, that would technically get rid of rear ignitor light? This is all theory in my head, but wanted to see if there are any vag-com guru's that could lend a hand!

Many thanks in advance!

« Last Edit: Jan 08, 14, 17:39 by Oscar »

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

Haha coding all figured out, and everything functions except the bolsters, still having a few problems getting them to inflate when I push the "S" button, but then again I never use that button so not the biggest problem, and I'm able to inflate manually. Was actually going to ask if you wanted to sell me that touareg yet, I need a new daily! 😉

I'm getting excited for some nice weather, I need a 9k redline back in my life!

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

Thanks man! If I ever decide to sell I'll make sure you get the first call!

V3's have been on my mind for a while, but at the same time I don't plan on selling her so don't mind holding off for the best of the best. Plus I just know that the V3's would get blown out of the water by the ohlins, so rather then redo and reupgrade later on, I'm going to do it right the first time 😆

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rolled, bagged, stretched, poke are all words oscar is intimately familiar with

I've have my 03 Cummins 3500 with the HO 5.9 for 3 years now and I can tell you from experience these trucks require more than a small fortune in maintenance. Every time it's in the shop it's a min of $1k before it leaves. If I were to do it again I'd grab a newer Hemi 1500, only way I'd do a 3500 again is if I was hauling extremely heavy and needed the size, it's not worth what it costs me in maintenance every year. I expect 2-4k per year in regular maintenance, and bigger break downs would be on top of that.